<p>Three years ago travel writer Lydia Gard discovered freediving almost by accident. It’s an extreme and beautiful sport defined by one simple objective: to dive as deep as you can on one single breath. Record holders are now routinely diving to more than 120 metres, pushing the sport and their bodies to find out what’s humanly possible.</p><br><p>Through her coach, Lydia was drawn into a small but fanatical community of competition athletes all united in their drive for depth, and that’s where she stumbled on a darker side of the sport. Rumours swirled that a group of top divers were doping to get deeper, faster. </p><br><p>As the community began to turn on each other over the allegations, one prominent diver decided to take the law into his own hands. A secret sting operation was meant to put an end to the problem by bringing the alleged dopers out of the dark, and into the light. But the issue hasn't gone away. And now, a lot of people who’ve been too scared to speak up, are ready to talk. </p><br><p>Episodes 1-4 are available to listen now. </p><br><p>Subscribe to Observer+ on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to binge listen to the entire series today. </p><br><p>Subscribe to <a href="https://observer.co.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Observer </a>today and get access to:</p><ul><li>Our podcasts before anyone else</li><li>A daily edition, curated by our editors 7 days a week</li><li>Puzzles from the inventors of the cryptic crossword</li><li>Recipes for every occasion</li><li>Free tickets to join Observer events in our newsroom or online</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Click <a href="https://open.acast.com/networks/61ba16ddafe1fc001a418e0d/shows/61ba18761a8cbe923a3cf195/observer.co.uk/subscribe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a> to subscribe today for just £1 for your first month.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
| Title | Date published | ||
| The sting | The Gas Man Ep 2 | 2024-05-28 | ||
| The special agent | The Gas Man Ep 1 | 2024-05-28 | ||
| Introducing...The Gas Man | 2024-05-21 | ||
| Who Trolled Amber: Live | 2024-05-20 | ||
| Public enemy | Who Trolled Amber Ep 6 | 2024-03-26 | ||
| The special relationship | Who Trolled Amber Ep 5 | 2024-03-19 | ||
| Through the looking glass | Who Trolled Amber Ep 4 | 2024-03-12 | ||
| Into the dark | Who Trolled Amber Ep 3 | 2024-03-05 | ||
| Gold dust | Who Trolled Amber Ep 2 | 2024-02-27 | ||
| Missing evidence | Who Trolled Amber Ep 1 | 2024-02-27 | ||
| Introducing: Who Trolled Amber? | 2024-02-20 | ||
| The confidence game | Walter's War Ep 4 | 2023-11-30 | ||
| The rebellion | Walter's War Ep 3 | 2023-11-28 | ||
| The secret life of Walter Mitty | Walter's War Ep 2 | 2023-11-23 | ||
| An English gentleman | Walter's War Ep 1 | 2023-11-21 | ||
| Introducing: Walter's War | 2023-11-09 | ||
| The movement | Dr Anti-vax Ep 3 | 2023-11-07 | ||
| The rock star | Dr Anti-vax Ep 2 | 2023-10-31 | ||
| The fall | Dr Anti-vax Ep 1 | 2023-10-24 | ||
| Introducing: Dr Anti-vax | 2023-10-16 |